We also do one heck of a job celebrating the Fourth of July, if you ask me, and I'll put the number of empties in our post-holiday recycling bins up against anybody.

So as you can imagine it was quite a shock to learn that Connecticut is one the least patriotic states in the country.

According to a survey done for the personal finance website WalletHub, Connecticut ranks 44th. That means 43 states, and probably Cuba, are more patriotic than us.

While you don't want to take this survey too seriously — one of the things measured was the number of Google searches for "American flags" — it's not something you want to be known for either.

Welcome to Connecticut: The Land of Studied Indifference.

One of the reasons we rated poorly is because we are 47th when it comes to the percentage of residents who enlisted in the military.

OK, but where might we be if the survey weighed the percentage of residents who make stuff for the military?

The only states considered less patriotic than Connecticut are Arkansas, West Virginia, Utah, Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York.

I have no idea why these states qualify as red, white and blue bottom feeders, although in the case of New Jersey I suspect the "Real Housewives" and Gov. Warm and Fuzzy are factors.

For what it's worth, the most patriotic state is Virginia. There is, I think, a logical explanation for this. A lot of people who work for the federal government in Washington, D.C., live in Virginia. So there is a good chance that those selected for the survey didn't understand the questions.

My first reaction to Vermont (33) being more patriotic than Connecticut was incredulity: Have these people ever been to Vermont? There are large swaths of Vermont so sparsely settled and isolated that people are still waiting to hear who won the War of Independence. Apparently, what pushed Vermont higher is that it is first nationally in percentage of Peace Corps volunteers per capita. This also explains where everyone is.

Maine (6) and New Hampshire (8) both scored in the top 10 for patriotism.

Maine scores high because it ranks third per capita for most veterans.

New Hampshire's lofty status is due to the high percentage of its residents who voted in the most recent presidential election.

This, of course, is unfair because New Hampshire gets way too much attention in presidential elections, as evidenced by the following anecdote:

A reporter asks a New Hampshire resident if he is voting for a certain candidate, to which the resident replies: "Still haven't made up my mind. I've only met him four or five times."